Apolitical JAC for Samaikyandhra in birth pangs

Samuel Tatikonda

Visakhapatnam: All said and done, the Non-Political JAC launched on August 8 with much fanfare to fight against the bifurcation of the State still seems to be facing birth pangs. With political colour already painted, this ‘so called’ non-political JAC is yet to take off in a big way. When the whole of Seemandhra is boiling hot, the members of the JAC seem to be least interested in coming out into the open. While the chairman of the JAC Prof V Bala Mohan Das is preoccupied in Haryana, on an important day, a few others went round the city in a van 'showing solidarity' with the striking employees while others were holidaying elsewhere.

When contacted, JAC vice-chairman Prof K Ravi said the future course of action will be chalked out in a few days. The JAC is designing its own flag and a logo to kick-start the agitation, he said. "We are planning to invite political parties to join us". But people say it is a bit too late to go to political parties at this juncture. "Why wasn't any political party representative invited for the August 8 round table meet", asks YSRCP city convener Vamsi Krishna.

"Why this hue and cry for Samaikyandhra? It is a fact that the granting of Telangana was included in the manifesto of UPA II during 2004 elections," said Praja Spandana convener CS Rao. He rubbished the formation of non-political JAC and said that it was the Congress leaders who are behind this JAC. "Land grabbers are behind the formation of JAC and they have done enough damage to Vizag and how can you call it apolitical?”

"It was a Congress show all the way, with all their MLAs and Minister Ganta Srinivas Rao, hogging the limelight during the round table meet," said another political party leader. Sustaining or taking the agitation further with this JAC was impossible because taking everyone into confidence was not done then, he added. To bring everyone together now was foolishness, he opined.

The day the round table was organised to form this JAC resembled more like a Congress party internal meeting rather than apolitical meet. "Why should the Congress cadre organise a round table to launch a non-political JAC," said a senior professor who do not want to be identified. "Ganta Srinivasa Rao and his party's MLAs should have skipped that meeting. The Minister wanted to give a fillip to the Samaikyandhra agitation but it boomeranged badly", said a senior journalist.